Thursday, 28 April 2011

Old Tucson

Old Tucson Movie Studios has been the backdrop for many movies and where movie stars including Ronald Reagan the 40th President of the United States have acted.

The loading dock in the picture below was built in 1962 for the John Wayne film McLintock which also starred Maureen O’Hara and Stephanie Powers.
It was later used in the John Wayne films Rio Lobo and El Dorado and also in Young Billy Young starring Robert Mitchum and Angie Dickinson.
Way back in the dim and distant past my favourite cowboy TV series, The High Chaparral, was filmed at Old Tucson although it was a bit scary to find out just how long ago that was. Between 1966 and 1971, ouch! We enjoyed the stunt shows one was based on the movie The Quick and the Dead, another on the Wild Wild West. The Secret of the Mission of Santa Maria was hilarious and had us in stitches,I definitely wouldn’t make the grade as a stunt woman as nothing on earth would get me to do this! The final show we saw was the Can Can Show held in the Grand Palace Hotel Saloon
and yes, it was the same stunt men and women who performed all the shows during the day.